Morocco’s most storied hotel celebrated its centenary in 2023, and it’s never looked better. That’s especially true thanks to a recent sophisticated makeover by design house Jouin Manku. A starring role in the Netflix series Inventing Anna followed, giving this grande dame a new cachet with the fashionable jet set.
Like one of Marrakech’s monumental gates, La Mamounia sits at the edge of the old city and is one of the city’s major landmarks. You can spy the Koutoubia minaret from the garden, walk to the Djemaa el-Fna within five minutes or get a caped doorman to hail a cab to whisk you to the new town, Gueliz, in five to 10 minutes.
Inaugurated in 1923 as a grand art deco railway hotel, this public palace has been welcoming travellers with matchless Moroccan hospitality ever since. Of course, it is historically significant, but La Mamounia is no petrified heritage hotel – it’s a stage upon which Marrakech’s cultural life plays out. While other luxury hotels are cloistered, La Mamounia is expansive. The internationally renowned 1-54 African Art Fair is hosted here as well as the Marrakech Film Festival. Artistocrats and celebrities wed beneath palms in the 18th-century garden while movers and shakers strike deals in Le Bar Majorelle or over lunch at the pool pavilion. This social whirl plays out against extravagant interior scenery that blends haute contemporary luxury with the hotel’s signature art deco style.
With over 700 employees – that’s an average of four for every room – La Mamounia is rightly renowned for its courtly service. Hot towels, orange blossom-infused milk and dates greet you on arrival, while rooms come furnished with roses, spiced cakes and bowls of fruit. There are four beautiful bars – one in the garden under the stars – and four lavish restaurants, as well as an elegant French tea salon.
Then there is the vast underground spa with the most Insta-famous pool in Marrakech, a hair salon, a mini-mall of local and designer shops, a gym in the garden, a retro games room for teens, a plush cinema, tennis courts and a large palm-framed pool. In short, there’s everything you need for a great time.
There are 135 rooms, 71 suites (including four with two bedrooms) and three riads with three bedrooms each. Entry-level Classic and Superior rooms are plush but fairly ordinary, so it’s worth opting for a Deluxe room or above if budget allows. The latter come with balconies, the best of which overlook the gorgeous gardens and the Atlas Mountains, though street-side rooms suffer from some noise. All of them are decked out in rich Moroccan crafts: intricate zellij (a style of mosaic) tiling, latticework screens and polished tadelakt (plaster) bathrooms. These elements are enhanced by decorative art deco furnishings and huge king beds. Bathrooms are surprisingly small, although jewel-like, with tiled and marble finishes. Only larger rooms have a bath. The higher you go, the more perks you can expect: extra lounges, double balconies, dressing rooms and, in the Exceptional suites, front-row views of the Koutoubia.
The restaurants, beautifully renovated by the Jouin Manku design house, are a triumph. Each has a distinctive style, ranging from the casual chic, gold and green Italian trattoria, which opens to the garden, to the high luxury of the pan-Asian nice dining restaurant and the sultry Churchill Bar, now reimagined as a wood-panelled railway carriage serving champagne and caviar at a sculpted black marble bar. The choice of Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten for the Italian and Asian restaurants was inspired. As an international globetrotter, his menus have the variety and renicement demanded by La Mamounia’s diverse clientele while holding true to the concept of each restaurant and delivering immensely flavourful food.
Likewise, the Moroccan restaurant, set apart in the garden, features classic dishes alongside the contemporary imagining of Moroccan chef Rachid Agouray. French bistro fare and homemade ice cream are available all day at the Pool Pavilion, which remains famous for its Sunday lunch and immense breakfast buffet. The latter features mountains of viennoiserie, charcuterie, cheese, yoghurts, cereal, fruit and eggs in every imaginable style. Or simply drop in for tea beneath the glittering Lasvit chandelier at the Pierre Hermé salon – it’s a favourite treat for well-heeled locals.
There are two Park suites and one Deluxe Park room adapted for guests with disabilities.
Children are warmly welcomed and will enjoy the enormous pool, the kind service, the free daily carriage rides and the huge gardens. Cots are provided at no extra charge, while extra beds incur a supplement of 950 MAD (£75) per night. Babysitting services are also available.
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